Fans of Philip K. Dick see this as just another incremental step toward true autonomous robotic salesmen as seen in his 1954 short story Sales Pitch:

Robot-salesmen were everywhere, gesturing, pleading, shrilling. One started after him and he quickened his pace. It scurried along, chanting its pitch and trying to attract his attention, all the way up the hill to his living-unit. It didn't give up until he stooped over, snatched up a rock, and hurled it futilely. He scrambled in the house and slammed the doorlock after him. The robot hesitated, then turned and raced after a woman with an armload of packages toiling up the hill. She tried vainly to elude it, without success.
(Read more about Dick's robot salesmen)

Dick actually suggests an intermediate step between a remote-controlled robotic salesman and a fully autonomous one - namely, the homotropic vending machine.

From AdFreak via Frolix_8; thanks also to Joey1058 for writing in with this video.

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